Assignment 5: Sensors

Rather than figure out a practical application for sensors involving the news or media, I decided to take a less serious route. My idea for sensors involves music.

Heart rate monitors are already becoming wildly owned by consumers. Items like the Fitbit or even the Apple Watch contain sensors that can measure your BPM. However, for the most part this data serves very little purpose to the common person, other than allowing him or her to check on their health.

I believe with the appropriate software these types of sensors could serve a more musical purpose. As the heart rate monitor measures your BPM’s, a DJ software could then play music that would match that beat (a similar software already exists, but it matches runners’ footsteps). Heart rate monitors obviously cannot also tell your mood, but this software could allow the user to choose the genre they would like to hear. For example: If the wearer’s BPM is resting, the person could choose between a multitude of genres such as acoustic, smooth jazz, or any other musical style.

This software could even be taken a step further. Imagine going to a club on a Saturday night. The cover is a whopping $30, but at the door you are given a wristband that measures your pulse. This data is then transmitted to some DJ software that averages the BPM’s of everyone on the dance floor, and selects music with the same BPM. The lights could also be synced up to the beat, giving the ultimate clubbing experience.

As sensory technology becomes more widely available and the price goes down, this seemingly bizarre scenario could easily come into fruition.